Reskin hiccup

[GaryL]

Guys,

I'm wondering if any of the experts on here can help this reskinning rookie, please. I've been trying (learning !) my hand at doing bits and bobs of very basic reskinning the past day or so. One issue I've came across that I'm not sure how to solve can be seen in the shots below.
The Overhead Wires warning sticker is on top of the nameplate in game, but there's no evidence of it in the .dds file in RSBinTool/Photoshop. How do I get rid of the warning sticker? The model in question is the S&C Class 37.

Thanks,

Gary

[gptech]

The warning sticker will be in another texture file, look for one called 'decals' or 'details'. To prevent it displaying you'd need to edit the Alpha channel of that texture, which is easy enough if you have the right tools.I'll have a delve to track down which file it's actually in whilst you grab a copy of DXTBmp from http://www.mwgfx.co.uk/programs/dxtbmp.htm -- scroll right to the bottom of the page for the download link.

[Merlin75]

I think that decal is in the nose textures.

[rfletcher72]

I think that decal is in the nose textures.

It is.

[GaryL]

Thanks guys,

I've downloaded DXTBmp, but not got a clue what to do yet. More learning. As previous replies have stated, the offending item is in the nose textures.

Gary

[gptech]

I had a wee play with this earlier---and it didn't work

Usually, editing the alpha channel to 'mask' an area you don't want displaying with a totally black section does the job but in this case it didn't---could somebody just do a quick test on that nose texture to see if it's a common thing or just that I've messed my copy up?

Gary, think of the alpha channel as a sheet of black paper you place over the *picture* that is the texture. Where it's black, you can't see it. Cut holes in that black sheet and you can see those parts underneath. We can't cut holes in a file of course, but we can change the colour from black to white---black = totally unseen, white = completely visible, with the shades of grey (I've more than 50 in my hair) in between working as a filter to make it *just about visible* (dark grey) to *nearly fully visible* (light grey)

If it turns out that the alpha isn't easily edited you could look at applying the nameplates as child objects---much more complicated for a beginner but not out of anybody's reach if they understand how it works (or is supposed to work ) but before we head off on that tangent let's hold on to see if anybody can get a result with the alpha.

[chrisonline]

It's a strange one but I agree, it seems immovable! So I suspect it is baked into the Geo file (not as a node)

That ties in if you think about it - normally we mask decals etc when they are called as a child (either as a node in the Geo, or from within the .bin file)

Further evidence is the fact that every other reskin I have for that model has the same thing, including the sticker appearing in the middle of a large BR logo!

[GaryL]

If you guys can't move it then I have absolutely no hope whatsoever. Hopefully someone can work a bit of magic, but I won't be holding my breath. Real shame.
On another note, what is the process of removing/adding snowploughs to models?

Thanks.

[chrisonline]

On another note, what is the process of removing/adding snowploughs to models?

The snowplough is called as a Child Object by the loco's .bin file. If you look in the scenario droplist for this model, you will see two options - Class 37 EWS and Class 37 EWS wp (= with plough)

Now look in the SettleCarlisle folder and drill down to the loco's Engine folder, you will see there are two loco .bin files - class37_red.bin, and class37_red_wp.bin (corresponding to the two options in the scenario droplist). Examine each of them using RW_Tools and you will see the "with plough" version has an extra block of code almost at the bottom of the file as follows:

Code: Select all

						<cEntityContainerBlueprint-sChild d:id="39073024">
							<ChildName d:type="cDeltaString">Plough</ChildName>
							<BlueprintID>
								<iBlueprintLibrary-cAbsoluteBlueprintID>
									<BlueprintSetID>
										<iBlueprintLibrary-cBlueprintSetID>
											<Provider d:type="cDeltaString">Rsc</Provider>
											<Product d:type="cDeltaString">SettleCarlisle</Product>
										</iBlueprintLibrary-cBlueprintSetID>
									</BlueprintSetID>
									<BlueprintID d:type="cDeltaString">RailVehicles\Diesel\Class37\Red\Engine\Plough.xml</BlueprintID>
								</iBlueprintLibrary-cAbsoluteBlueprintID>
							</BlueprintID>
							<Matrix>
								<cHcRMatrix4x4>
									<Element/>
								</cHcRMatrix4x4>
							</Matrix>
							<ParentNodeName d:type="cDeltaString"></ParentNodeName>
						</cEntityContainerBlueprint-sChild>

[GaryL]

Excellent, thank you Chris. That's worked a treat. Much appreciated.

[gptech]

Adding nameplates as child objects is very similar to the ploughs, with the addition of a matrix (confusing list of numbers) which determines the position of the object. Adding the data to the .bin is the easy bit, the hard work is in producing the nameplate itself. You could aim high and produce a *proper* 3D model, Matthew Wilson (deltic009) has produced a tutorial for that but I can't find the URL for the YouTube video at the moment, or you could just add a 2D texture.
Do you want to have a bash at that?

[GaryL]

I've had a look at the 3D nameplates tutorial on YouTube but I'll give that a bash another day. I've just been browsing the internet for decent nameplate pics, editing them in PS to bring them up to a satisfactory standard and pasted them onto the DDS in PS. Couple of pics below. Really pleased how they'e turned out. That warning sticker is really grating on me, though. Need to add some weathering on the plate on 023. Way too clean compared to the rest of the loco.